Research indicates that early childhood professionals gather assessment information to monitor child development and learning, to guide curriculum planning and decision making, to identify children who may have special needs, to report and communicate with others, and to evaluate programmes. A review of literature indicates that immigrant children have low achievement assessment scores as compared with mainstream American children, also immigrant children enter kindergarten already behind their mainstream American peers. The current study explored early childhood teachers' perceptions of assessment measures used with immigrant children and the challenges faced when assessing immigrant children. Findings of the study reveal that there are several factors that make early childhood teachers fail to gather effective assessment information from immigrant children. Unless the factors are addressed, planning for effective curriculum for immigrant children using assessment data will continue to be a challenge for early childhood teachers. Factors that continue to affect gathering effective assessment data from immigrant children include language barriers, cultural clashes, socio-economic factors, and culturally and linguistically biased assessment measures.

In this study, through a group of children’s critical inquiries about migrant belonging, I aimed to understand migrant children’s epistemic privilege and generate a counter-narrative against the predominant problem-based framing of migrant children. To achieve the research purpose, the guiding questions I set forth are the following: 1. What issues, problems, and questions regarding migrant belonging do a group of migrant children bring to the surface? 2. How do the children investigate those issues, problems, and questions? 3. What role does the researcher play in the child-led critical inquiry process? To address the questions, 33 critical inquiry sessions were held from 2019 to 2020 in an afterschool class in a Korean elementary school. At the intersection of practitioner research tradition and a participatory approach, this study oriented itself toward reflexive, action-oriented research. The findings suggest that the children’s engagement in critical inquiries brought methodological dilemmas, posing questions to my assumptions about the research topics as well as to my plans, and shifted research design. These complexities caused by children demonstrated that critical inquiries involve generative possibilities wherein not only children can generate knowledges but researchers also reconstruct one’s preconceptions and better understand the research topics, ultimately developing better research design. In addition, children demonstrated their insights about migrant belonging by reconceptualizing belonging from a migrant Joseonjok child’s perspective. The children also taught people how othering practices were at work in Korean society and impacted their belonging. Based on the generated knowledges, the children, on the one hand, created counter-narratives and informed us about how to rethink migrant belonging in South Korea and, on the other hand, attempted to counteract othering practices, which let me reconsider what “action” would mean in the critical inquiries. With these findings, I discuss migrant children’s epistemic privilege, particularly regarding their insights about the nation-building project in South Korea, how children navigate the critical inquiries, and researcher’s role in the critical inquiries. The discussion generates implications for researchers in the field of curriculum studies and qualitative methodology and for practitioners and curriculum designers who conduct critical inquiries with children.

The aim of this study was to pursue an investigation on the educational performance of immigrant children living in Sweden by means of interviews and in the light of the social capital theory. With some earlier researchers suggesting that children with immigrant background have the tendency of performing lower in school compared to native children. This study uses Social capital theory to highlight the relationship between individuals and social structures influencing families in terms of educational performance of theirchildren. The study was carried out qualitatively with four immigrants parents been interviewed. The result of the interviews showed that parent’s role in their children’s educational performance is vital as well as the role of the community. The study also raises a question of self-confidence of children and parents. The result furthered showed that children’s educational performance is influenced by activities.

Hung Mong-ping. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 163-173). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / ABSTRACT (English version) --- p.i / ABSTRACT (Chinese version) --- p.ii / ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS --- p.iii / TABLE OF CONTENTS --- p.iv / LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES --- p.viii / Chapter CHAPTER 1 --- INTRODUCTION --- p.1 / Chapter CHAPTER 2 --- LITERATURE REVIEW --- p.4 / Chapter 2.1 --- Studies on the Schooling and Social Adaptation of Young NACs from Mainland China --- p.4 / Chapter 2.1.1 --- Difficulties in Finding a School Place --- p.5 / Chapter 2.1.2 --- Enrollment in Lower Grades with Younger Classmates --- p.7 / Chapter 2.1.3 --- Problems in the Learning of Languages --- p.9 / Chapter 2.1.4 --- Relationship with Teachers --- p.11 / Chapter 2.1.5 --- Peer Relationship in School --- p.12 / Chapter 2.1.6 --- Relationship with the Family and Adaptation to the Change of Living Environment --- p.13 / Chapter 2.1.7 --- Community Support for Students --- p.15 / Chapter 2.1.8 --- Limitations of Local Studies on Young NACs and Focus of Current Study --- p.16 / Chapter 2.2 --- Socio-cultural Dimension in Minority Education --- p.18 / Chapter 2.2.1 --- Interpersonal Relationship with Classmates and Teachers --- p.18 / Chapter 2.2.2 --- Role of the Minority Parents --- p.20 / Chapter 2.2.3 --- Cultural Adaptation and Marginality --- p.21 / Chapter 2.2.4 --- Identity --- p.25 / Chapter 2.2.5 --- Summary --- p.27 / Chapter 2.3 --- Effects of Age-based Identity on Learning --- p.29 / Chapter 2.3.1 --- Academic Improvement --- p.29 / Chapter 2.3.2 --- School Dropouts --- p.30 / Chapter 2.3.3 --- Self Concept --- p.31 / Chapter 2.3.4 --- School Adjustment --- p.33 / Chapter 2.3.5 --- Summary --- p.34 / Chapter 2.4 --- Socio-cultural Influences in SLA --- p.36 / Chapter 2.4.1 --- Norton's Theorization about Socio-culturalInfluences on the SLA --- p.36 / Chapter 2.4.2 --- Research Studies Supporting Norton's Theorization --- p.38 / Chapter 2.4.3 --- "Norton (1997,2000)'s Revisit of the SLA Theory" --- p.41 / Chapter 2.4.4 --- Summary --- p.44 / Chapter CHAPTER 3 --- METHODOLOGY --- p.46 / Chapter 3.1 --- Research Method --- p.46 / Chapter 3.2 --- The Case Study Research Approach --- p.47 / Chapter 3.2.1 --- Definition of Case Study --- p.47 / Chapter 3.2.2 --- Merits and Limitations of the Case Study --- p.47 / Chapter 3.2.2.1 --- Merits --- p.47 / Chapter 3.2.2.2 --- Limitations --- p.49 / Chapter 3.3 --- The Case Study approach for the Study of the Young New Arrivals from Mainland China --- p.50 / Chapter 3.3.1 --- Research Design --- p.50 / Chapter 3.3.1.1 --- Multiple-Case Study --- p.50 / Chapter 3.3.1.2 --- Length of Research Period --- p.51 / Chapter 3.3.2 --- Data Collection --- p.52 / Chapter 3.3.2.1 --- Triangulation of Informants and Data Collection Methods --- p.52 / Chapter 3.3.2.2 --- Self-completion questionnaires andQualitative Interviews --- p.53 / Chapter 3.3.2.3 --- Semi-structured Interviews --- p.54 / Chapter 3.3.2.4 --- Audio-recording and Transcription --- p.55 / Chapter 3.3.3 --- Data Analysis --- p.55 / Chapter 3.3.3.1 --- Deductive Data analysis Approaches --- p.55 / Chapter 3.3.3.2 --- Member Checks --- p.56 / Chapter 3.4 --- Selection of Subjects for the Study --- p.57 / Chapter 3.5 --- Profile of Subjects --- p.58 / Chapter 3.6 --- Procedures of the Study --- p.61 / Chapter 3.6.1 --- Stage 1: Pilot-testing of Questionnaires (Late June 2001) --- p.61 / Chapter 3.6.2 --- Stage 2: Interviews with the Teachers (Early July 2001 to early December2001) --- p.62 / Chapter 3.6.3 --- Stage 3: Interviews with the Subjects to Collect Background --- p.63 / Chapter 3.6.4 --- Stage 4: Interviews with the Subjects to Collect In-depth Data (Mid-September 2001 to Mid-January2001) --- p.63 / Chapter 3.6.5 --- "Stage 5: Interviews with the parents (December to February,2001)" --- p.64 / Chapter 3.6.6 --- Stage 6: Data Analysis (March to May) --- p.65 / Chapter CHAPTER 4 --- DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS --- p.67 / Chapter 4.1 --- Reasons for Coming to Hong Kong --- p.67 / Chapter 4.2 --- Scene of Departure and First Day in Hong Kong --- p.70 / Chapter 4.3 --- Schooling in Hong Kong --- p.75 / Chapter 4.3.1 --- First School Day --- p.75 / Chapter 4.3.1.1 --- Feelings before Going to School --- p.75 / Chapter 4.3.1.2 --- New Teachers and Classmates --- p.76 / Chapter 4.3.1.3 --- Cultural Differences and Language Shock --- p.82 / Chapter 4.3.1.4 --- Worries and Concerns --- p.85 / Chapter 4.3.2 --- School Life --- p.87 / Chapter 4.3.2.1 --- Perceived Function of Educationand Academic Goal Setting --- p.87 / Chapter 4.3.2.2 --- Parent's Expectation for the NACs Academic Attainment --- p.89 / Chapter 4.3.2.3 --- Relationship with Teachers --- p.92 / Chapter 4.3.2.4 --- Relationship with Classmates --- p.94 / Chapter 4.3.2.5 --- Language Learning --- p.101 / Chapter 4.3.2.5.1 --- Attitudes towards Different language --- p.101 / Chapter 4.3.2.5.2 --- Cantonese Learning --- p.102 / Chapter 4.3.2.5.3 --- English Learning --- p.104 / Chapter 4.3.2.6 --- Age Gap with Classmates --- p.112 / Chapter 4.3.2.7 --- Participation in Extracurricular Activities --- p.115 / Chapter 4.3.2.8 --- Change to a Different School --- p.116 / Chapter 4.4 --- Family Life and Community Support --- p.119 / Chapter 4.4.1 --- Family Life --- p.119 / Chapter 4.4.1.1 --- Relationship with Family --- p.119 / Chapter 4.4.1.2 --- Living Environment --- p.123 / Chapter 4.4.1.3 --- Family's Economic Situation --- p.125 / Chapter 4.4.1.4 --- Comparison with Hongkongers´ة Family Life --- p.127 / Chapter 4.4.1.5 --- Languages use with Family --- p.129 / Chapter 4.4.1.6 --- Learning of Hometown Cultures --- p.131 / Chapter 4.4.2 --- Community Support --- p.133 / Chapter 4.4.2.1 --- Education Department --- p.133 / Chapter 4.4.2.2 --- School's Support --- p.137 / Chapter 4.4.2.3 --- Community Centers --- p.138 / Chapter 4.4.2.4 --- The Church --- p.139 / Chapter 4.5 --- Identity --- p.140 / Chapter 4.5.1 --- Perception of Self and In-group Members --- p.140 / Chapter 4.5.2 --- Feeling about Different Labels and Desirable Identity --- p.142 / Chapter 4.6 --- Summary --- p.146 / Chapter CHAPTER 5 --- CONCLUSION --- p.148 / Chapter 5.1 --- The NACs' Sense of Self and Socio-cultural Adaptation --- p.148 / Chapter 5.1.1 --- Sense of Self before and after coming to Hong Kong --- p.148 / Chapter 5.1.2 --- Factors Affecting Sense of Self --- p.150 / Chapter 5.1.3 --- Socio-cultural Differences --- p.151 / Chapter 5.1.4 --- Socio-cultural Influences on Learning --- p.152 / Chapter 5.1.5 --- Strategies Adopted by the Young NACs --- p.157 / Chapter 5.2 --- Recommendations and Suggestions --- p.158 / Chapter 5.3 --- Limitations of the Current Study and Suggestions for Future Studies - --- p.162 / reference --- p.163 / appendix --- p.174 / APPENDIX a Number of NACs Admitted to Secondary School (1991-2000) --- p.174 / APPENDIX B The Replication Approach to Multiple Case Study ´ؤ --- p.175 / APPENDIX C Consent Form for NACs Students --- p.176 / APPENDIX D Questionnaires for Young NACs I (Socioculutural Adaptation and Sense of Self) --- p.178 / APPENDIX E Questionnaires for Young NACs II (English Language Learning) --- p.192 / APPENDIX F Consent for NACs´ة English Teachers --- p.206 / APPENDIX G Interview Guide for the NACs' English Teachers -…- --- p.207 / APPENDIX H Interview Guide for Interview with Young NACs I(Sense of Departure & First day in Hong Kong) --- p.209 / APPENDIX I Interview Guide for Interview with Young NACs II (First School Day and the School Life) --- p.211 / APPENDIX J Interview Guide for Interview with YoungNACs III (Family Life) --- p.213 / APPENDIX K Interview Guide for Interview with YoungNACs IV(Perception of Self and Social Life) --- p.215 / APPENDIX L Consent Form (For NACs' Parents) --- p.217 / APPENDIX M Interview Guide for Interview with Young NACs' Parents --- p.219 / APPENDIX N Interview Transcription (Li: Follow-up Interview of the Questionnaire about Adaptation) --- p.221 / APPENDIX 0 Interview Transcription (Li: English Learning) --- p.229 / APPENDIX P Interview Transcription (Li: First Day in Hong Kong) --- p.239 / APPENDIX Q Interview Transcription (Li: First School Day and the School Life) --- p.248 / APPENDIX R Interview Transcription (Li: Family Life) --- p.264 / APPENDIX S Interview Transcription (Li: Perception ofSelf and Social Life) --- p.272 / APPENDIX T Interview Transcription (Li: Interview with Teacher) --- p.281 / APPENDIX U Interview Transcription (Li: Interview with Parent) --- p.287 / APPENDIX V Interview Transcription (Huang) --- p.292 / APPENDIX W Interview Transcription (Chang) --- p.362 / APPENDIX X Interview Transcription (Wong) --- p.431

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2009. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 70-06, Section: A, page: . Adviser: Anne Haas Dyson. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 234-245) Available on microfilm from Pro Quest Information and Learning.

This study investigated Taiwanese preschool teachers' awareness of cultural diversity of new immigrant children and how this awareness influences their educational practices. In particular, this study focused on the cultural awareness of preschool teachers who work with young Taiwanese children whose mothers are immigrants from Southeast Asia. This study used quantitative and qualitative methods. One hundred seventy-two Taiwanese preschool teachers from the different geographic areas of Taiwan participated in the study. Data were collected through the use of the Cultural Diversity Awareness Inventory (CDAI) survey and participant interviews. Research results of the study revealed: (a) most Taiwanese preschool teachers had an awareness of cultural diversity, but their perceptions of how to create a multicultural environment need to be improved; (b) Taiwanese preschool teachers' personal experiences with children from different cultures were more associated with their cultural awareness than their ages and educational levels; (c) Geographic location was the factor affecting preschool teachers' awareness of cultural diversity and educational practices. This study is informative to the understanding of Taiwanese preschool teachers' awareness of cultural diversity and the implications of this awareness for classroom practice. In addition, multicultural perspectives of the Taiwan society toward immigrant families and children can benefit from the findings of this study. Future research should include the cultural needs of new immigrant children and the implementation of practices for educating new immigrant children.

published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / Educational Psychology / Master / Master of Social Sciences

Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Development Theory and Policy, School of Economics and Business Science, University of the Witwatersrand, June 2017 / South Africa has uniquely high rates of parental absence from children’s lives. Apartheid-era restrictions on population movement and residential arrangements contributed to family fragmentation, particularly when adults – mainly men – migrated to work in cities and on the mines. Despite the removal of legal impediments to permanent urban settlement and family coresidence for Africans, patterns of internal and oscillating labour migration have endured, dual or stretched households continue to link urban and rural nodes, and children have remained less urbanised than adults. Importantly for children, migration rates among prime-age women have increased, alongside falling marriage rates, declining remittances and persistently high unemployment. Households, and women especially, may have to make difficult choices about how to manage the competing demands of child care and income generation. It is the mobility patterns and household configurations arising from these strategies that are the focus of this research. The thesis uses a mixed-method approach to explore children’s geographic mobility and care arrangements. Using micro data spanning two decades, it traces children’s co-residence arrangements with parents and describes changes in household form from the perspective of children. It maps recent patterns of child migration within South Africa using four waves of a national panel study and compares these with patterns of maternal migration to reveal various dynamics of migration in mother–child dyads: co-migration, sequential migration, independent migration, and immobility. The child-focused analysis augments the existing migration literature, which has tended to focus on adult labour migration and ignore children or regard them as appendages of migrants. A single, detailed case study spanning three generations of mothers adds texture to the analysis by demonstrating the complexity of household strategies and plans for child care in the context of female labour migration. This in turn helps to reflect on the value of micro data for describing and analysing household form and migration patterns, particularly among children. / XL2018

In recent years there has been a dramatic increase in the number of children migrating to the United States without a parent. In Fiscal Year 2014 alone, U.S. immigration authorities apprehended and detained almost 70,000 unaccompanied children, compared to less than 9,000 in 2010. This rapid rise has been fueled primarily by children arriving from Central America, one of the world’s most violent regions. The available literature on unaccompanied children in the United States suggests that they are a vulnerable and underserved population, who are at risk for repeated exposure to extreme psychosocial adversities at every stage of their migration and frequently face many of these challenges alone. However, to date there has been little formal study of their mental health needs. The aim of this exploratory study was to obtain initial data regarding the psychosocial context, mental health presentation, and mental health service utilization of unaccompanied children released to guardians in the community pending immigration hearings to determine their eligibility to remain in the United States. The study employed a mixed methodology combining qualitative and quantitative data. The sample comprised 26 unaccompanied children and their guardians residing in the New York City metro area, interviewed between September 2013 and December 2014. Results showed that children in our sample had complex reasons for migration, frequently combining push factors such as fleeing gang violence and pull factors such as a desire for reunification with parents in the United States after long separations. Most had been exposed repeatedly to extreme psychosocial stressors prior to and during their migration, including almost two-thirds who had witnessed violence, serious injury, or death and over one-third who had witnessed domestic abuse or had been physically abused themselves. However, children also described benefitting from an array of supports that protected against stressors and promoted their wellbeing, and in their narratives they emphasized overcoming adversity rather than victimization. On a structured mental health diagnostic interview, the majority of children met criteria for one or more past-year anxiety and depressive disorders. Few received diagnoses for behavioral problems. Compared against these data, child-report measures screened more effectively for internalizing disorder diagnoses and guardian-report measures screened more effectively for externalizing disorder diagnoses. Despite the high rates of diagnosable disorders in the sample, most children appeared to be functioning well in family, social, and educational domains. No children were receiving formal mental health services at the time of their study interview, although several were being monitored by school counselors. Children presenting with mental health concerns were provided with referrals to mental health treatment services and contacted for a brief telephone follow-up interview three months later. At follow-up, a number of children had received counseling. Availability of school counselors and referral to therapists in the community through pediatricians were the primary facilitators of service access. Lack of knowledge of available, Spanish-speaking services and cost of treatment were common obstacles to seeking treatment. Some children and their guardians did not perceive a need for services, and most of these children appeared to be functioning well at follow-up. This study was designed to be largely descriptive and to provide data to inform future, theory-driven research. In the discussion section, social ecological models of risk and resilience and Hobfoll’s Conservation of Resources theory are presented as potential paradigms for understanding unaccompanied children’s migration processes, with stressors and supportive factors interacting across systemic levels and over time to determine children’s access to resources and their mental health, functioning, and wellbeing. Finally, the implications of the study’s findings for future research, psychosocial intervention, and rights-based advocacy with unaccompanied children are considered.

The migration morbidity hypothesis suggests that stress events inherent in immigration contribute to an increase in psychopathology. Assessing and investigating migration-morbidity among children of Mexican origin and Mexican American mothers living in the United States is the focus of the current study. Participants in the study were 133 students in 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades residing in the U.S. A replication of the ASEBA Teacher Report Form (TRF) Post-Traumatic Stress Problems (PTSP) scale factor structure was conducted to determine its utility for children of Mexican and Mexican American mothers. Item-level confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to evaluate the adequacy of the PTSP scale model. Three models were evaluated using a CFI, RMSEA, and WRMR to determine fit. Results using dichotomous TRF responses and omitting item 8, which includes information about a child's ability to concentrate, yielded a CFI = 0.956, RMSEA = 0.071, and WRMR = 0.862. Standardized factor loadings ranged from 0.484 to 0.976. The ASEBA TRF was used to gather information about a teacher's perception of problem behaviors in the classroom. Information was gathered for two groups: children of Mexican and children of Mexican American mothers residing in south Texas. An ANOVA determined that teachers observed a statistically significant difference (p = .04, d = 0.37) in happiness between groups with children born of Mexican origin mothers and rated as less happy than their peers born to Mexican American mothers. Children did not differ in other measures of behavior. The students resided in a primarily Mexican American/Mexican community, which could have impacted the results. In addition, the sensitive nature of the study may have impacted the low return rate. Implications of the study and their impact on education and immigrant mental health are discussed.